FLOOR & WALL COVERINGSThe smart workspace
Smart spaces breed wellness in the workplace byGraham Martin, Chairman & CEO, EnOcean Alliance

Workingina
comfortableenvironment makes
employees tangibly
moreeffective,
healthier and happier. It’s a win-win
for the employer where investing
35 euros per employee per year inbuilding automation helps bringing
close to 6000 euros per employee
per year benefit to companies. Smartspaces in the office can deliver
individual benefits to each and every
member of staff.
It is undeniable that attitudes
and patterns of work are changing.
Employees are progressively lessmotivated by salaries and moreconcerned about the job itself andthe working environment. Factors

26 | Winter 2020 | SMART AUTOMATION

like health and wellness are more
attractive than stress and cash. Whilst
the option of working from home is amajor bonus, smart workspaces willbring similar benefits when working
in the office.
With close to half the UK
workforce working remotely – andup to 90 percent wishing to work
remotely at least part-time – there
is ample opportunity to save costsby downsizing head office facilities.
But spending time in the office is still
important. This brings the challengeof allocating the reduced space, andtailoring spaces to the dynamic needsof employees. Even though many
employees choose to work fromhome – at least some of the time - agreat workplace still attracts new

staff and improves retention.
It therefore comes as no surprisethat leading companies are investingto create comfortable (and creative)
environments for their employees,
includingbuilding
automation
systems that monitor and control key
parameters such as temperature,humidity, air quality and light levels.
With the cost of building automation
for smart buildings around 35 euros
per person per year, it’s a majoroutlay, but the benefits are huge:estimated at nearly 6000 euros perperson annually (Harvard BusinessSchool, 2017).
Technology trends like Big Data& Artificial Intelligence, Building
Information Modelling (BIM), Powerover Ethernet (PoE) and Wireless,

Batteryless controls are changing theway we build and operate workplaces.
Tomorrow’s offices will not only work
as smart buildings but go further andcreate smart spaces: from meetingrooms and conference suites, rightdown to restrooms and individualworkstations.
Sensors help to optimise working
environments
This requires exact data from every

room or area of the building, forexample, intelligent lighting control
can be used to modulate illuminationlevels over the course of the day.
Controlling the colour temperatureoffers an additional method to adjust
lighting in tune with body clocks. The
necessary data comes primarily fromsensors which are the key to building
automation and IoT applications.
Wireless solutions are essential
to ensure data is made easilyavailable in existing workplaces
as well as new buildings. The cost,
disruption and environmental issues
involved in routing new cables andreplacing batteries are extremely
high. That’s why energy harvestingbased, wireless sensors havebecome the choice for the building
and data service community. If suchsensors are combined with a building
automation (gateway) and moved tothe cloud, raw data can be accessedfrom anywhere. This sensor-driven,
real-time connection between real
locations and their digital twin
helps to analyse and improve
workplace situations. Integrationof a wide range of components issimplified by leveraging the extensive
interoperability offered by industry
organisations like the EnOcean
Alliance.
Smart spaces
Efficient and effective use of spaceis vital given the cost of today’s new
office buildings. With digitalisation,a wireless and maintenance-freesolution is a very smart approach
when it comes to retrofitting existingbuildings. According to Florian
Schiebl, Chief Operating Officer ofThing-it: “Sensors deliver hard facts
that help determine and understandchanges in work patterns aroundthe clock. This makes it possible toquickly modify the room strategy tolower real estate costs and provide
an ideal workspace for different
teams and situations.” Sensor-basedknowledge further helps bring
operating processes in line withdemand. For example, cleaning andmaintenance processes become more
flexible, adapting to occupation levels
and uses of the space.
Maintenance-free self-powered
wireless sensors and actuators areinstalled with minimal effort andprovide their room data to local
control systems and/or self-learning,
cloud-based AI devices via a smartgateway virtually and in real time.
This digitalisation platform provides
a central, flexible and hardwareindependent control system for smart
spaces.
Live data is key
Intelligent linking of existing or
retrofitted building technology with aself-learning control platform in thecloud offers the greatest potential
SMART AUTOMATION | Winter 2020 | 27

for operating existing properties,
where lighting, temperature and air
quality can be automatically adapted
to the specific room bookings andon-demand use.
Success with IoT-based scenarios
Smart spaces with live data andwireless communications can beapplied to a broad range of areas in
the workplace, such as:
Restrooms: sensors on soap
dispensers determines the fill leveland send an automatic notification
to the janitorial staff as soon as thethreshold value is exceeded. This
allows the soap to be refilled as needed
and increases user satisfaction. Door
contact sensor determines how often
the restrooms are used and prompts
staff to clean the room as needed
according to the same pattern when athreshold value is exceeded.
Conference rooms: Energy usage
in conference rooms as well as
cleaning and maintenance depending
on how often they are booked andused. Motion sensors with a special
algorithm installed in the room, supply
the necessary data. The networked
devices in the conference room canalso be controlled via an app on atablet or a smartphone, based on preprogrammed scenarios.
28 | Winter 2020 | SMART AUTOMATION

For example, the projector
automaticallystartsupin“Presentation” mode while theblinds are lowered. The lighting
is also adapted to the scenarios,
switching the lights on if the room isbeing used for a meeting or turningthem off and lowering the window
blinds for presentations. Heating orcooling in unused conference rooms
is minimized and can be reactivateda few minutes before the next room
booking.
Analysis in the cloud
All raw data supplied by the sensors
and actuators can be used locallybut now can also be combined in thecloud and made usable via a software
solution, thus enabling in-depth
analysis of ways to further optimise
services and increase efficiency. In
other application scenarios, sensors
can, for example, detect whether
proactive maintenance of technicalequipment is necessary.
In addition to the solutions
described, service providers can also
manage conference rooms, room
bookings or building security via
the new smart services. This also
includes optimising the managementof parking spaces in office car parks
based on sensor data.

Sensors help make building
spaces smarter and services moreuser oriented. Resources can thus bebetter planned and used, which saves
time and money. Additionally, this typeof service provision ensures higher
employee satisfaction by increasing
the quality of service and, at the sametime, helping to preserve the value ofthe real estate.
As well as technology companies
such as Microsoft, IBM, NTT
Communications,Tencent
andSoftbank, many other business arealso offering IoT solutions for smart
buildings based on interoperable
EnOcean radio standards. Traditionalbuilding automation providers havealso added data analysis and cloudservices to their standard offerings.
It isn’t just the energy harvesting
aspect driving this success. The large,
multi-vendor, interoperable productecosystem and ease of installationand operation are also helping tofuel this growth. The future looks
bright for smart spaces based onintelligence gathered by wireless,battery-free sensors and acted on bylow-impact controls.
For further information please visit
www.enocean-alliance.org